Bookmark



May 21, 1963 J. 5. HARNETT, JR

BOOKMARK Filed Oct. 30, 1961 United States Patent Filed Oct. 30, 1961, Ser. No. 148,419 8 Claims. (Cl. 116-119) This invention relates to bookmarks and more particularly to an automatic bookmark of simplified design which may be manufactured from a sheet of flexible sheet material.

Referring now to the drawings:

FIGURE 1 is a blank formed from a piece of flexible sheet material which may be used in manufacturing the bookmark of FIGURE 2 or FIGURE 3;

FIGURE 2 is a perspective view of the bookmark which may be formed from the blank of FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 3 is a perspective view of the bookmark which may be formed from the blank of FIGURE 1, but of a different design from that illustrated in FIG- URE 2;

FIGURE 4 is a blank formed from a piece of flexible sheet material which may be used in forming the bookmark of FIGURE 5;

FIGURE 5 is a perspective view of the bookmark formed from the flexible sheet material of FIGURE 4; and

FIGURE 6 illustrates the manner of use of the bookmark of the invention and more specifically the bookmark of FIGURE 5.

Referring now to FIGURES 1, 2, and 3, the piece of flexible sheet material 10 is cut as shown at 11 to pro vide a portion 12 which is formed by the three cuts 16, 23 and 24. The portion 12 is folded upon portion 13 to thereby provide means for attaching the bookmark to a page of a book. This is accomplished by inserting a page of the book between the folded portion 12 and the portion 13. A portion 14 is also provided which, as does portion 12, extends from portion 13 and is folded back toward portion 13 to thereby form a page marker. The portion 14 preferably tapers to a point 15 as it extends away from portion 13. The point 15 preferably is turned upward at its end so as to prevent the point 15 from pressing against and possibly tearing the pages of a book when the pages are turned, and to allow easy insertion of a page under the bookmark when this is desired. This is important in instances where it is desired to re-read a page which already has been pulled from under the portion 14 and turned.

As shown in FIGURE 2, portion 12 when folded toward portion 13 forms an opening at 17 in portion 14, and members 18 which extend from portion 13. Preferably, the portions 18 at a point near portion 13 are arranged to provide a hinge-like portion as shown at 19 to prevent a sharp crease from being formed therein, and to act as a hinge that will allow flexing without breakage. However, this is not always necessary with some materials and the members 18 may be joined to portion 13 without forming the portion 19, as shown at 20 in FIGURE 3. The portion 14 may be flexed outward from portion 13 in the general area 21 to impart a spring-like action to the portion 14 when in use. The sharp taper of portion 14 to the point 15 assures that a spring-like action will be attained which is not difiicult to overcome when turning pages of the book. Greater strength which is especially useful in attaching the bookmark may be attained by providing corrugations 22 in portion 12 or 13, or in both portions 12 and 13.

Referring now to FIGURES 4, 5, and 6 which illusirate another design of the bookmark of the invention, the piece of flexible sheet material 25 includes a first portion 26 forming a member having extending there- 3,090,347 Patented May 21, 1963 from second portions 27 and 28. The portions 27 and 28 are spaced apart with a third portion 29 therebetween which likewise extends from first portion 26. The portion 29 forms a marking member which may be relatively long and tapered away from portion 26 to form end 30. The end 30 may be turned upward slightly to prevent tearing of pages of the book when in use as shown in FIGURE 6 and allow easy insertion of a page under the mark when this is desired. The portions 27 and 28 are relatively short as compared with portion 29, and are folded upon portion 26 to form tabs for attaching the bookmark to a page of the book. The page of the book is inserted between the portions 27 and 28 and the portion 27, as illustrated in FIGURE 6. Corrugations 32 are formed in portions 27 and 28, or portion 26, or in all of the portions 26, 27 and 28 to thereby give greater strength and rigidity to the bookmark, as well as assuring that the portions 27 and 28 hold tenaciously to the page of the book when in use. The page marking portion 29 is joined to portion 26 by means of a curvilinear portion 33 forming a hinge in a manner similar to that discussed in connection with FIGURES l, 2 and 3 and thereby prevent failure of the material structurally due to flexing when in use. Additionally, portion 29 is folded outwardly in the center portion 34 and away from the portion 26 to thereby provide a spring-like action which assures that the portion 29 is always against the surface of the page to be marked. Additionally, the portion 34 provides space for a message or advertisement which may be imprinted, engraved, perforated. etc.

The design of the bookmark appearing in FIGURES l, 2 and 3 uses less material in its construction, but it has the disadvantage of providing less space for a message or advertising on the portion 14. The design shown in FIGURES 4, 5 and 6 overcomes this disadvantage by providing a relatively large area for a message or advertisement, although it does use slightly more material in its construction.

The tapered design for the portions 14 and 29 allows easy spring action to be achieved which makes turning of the pages of the book easier and prevents tearing of the pages. Also, a smaller area of the printed page is covered and especially as the portions 14 and 29 extend downward toward the bottom of the page of the book.

Referring now to FIGURE 6, the bookmark of FIG- URES 4 and 5 is shown in use attached to page 36 of book 37. Preferably, the page 36 is a back flyleaf, or a page which is toward the back of the book and substantially removed from the page 38 which it is desired to mark. The bookmark is attached to page 36 by means of portions 27 and 28, which have corrugations 32 therein assuring that it holds tenaciousiy to the page. The portion 29 extends over the pages 40 between pages 36 and 38 and downward toward the bottom of the page 38 which it is desired to mark. The spring-like action of the portion 33 and the portion 34 assure that the portion 29 is retained against the surface of page 38, and yet the design of the portion 29 is such that it is sufficiently flexible to allow easy turning of the pages of the book.

The portion 33 extends above the top edge 41 of page 36 and thereby assures that a sharp crease is not formed at the junction of the portion 29 and portion 26 which, if formed, may cause the marker to break upon flexing in use. However, when construction materials are used where this is not a disadvantage, the design in FIGURE 3 may be used. The FIGURE 3 design eliminates the portion 33 which extends above the top of the page 36 and which may cause the bookmark to become dislodged or removed While in use. Thus, the design of FIGURE 3 has the advantage that there is less chance of the bookmark being dislodged in use when the construction materials are such as to allow this design.

When reading the book 37, after reading the page 38, it is turned in the usual manner thereby removing the page 38 from under the end 30 and presenting the next page to the reader. The spring-like action of portion 29 allows the page 38 to be removed easily, and yet the portion 29 is retained in position against the surface of the next page to be marked. This occurs automatically and without requiring that the reader position the mark upon turning each page. This process continues as the book is read until the last page is reached. If desired, the bookmark may be attached to an intermediate page such as at 42.

The bookmark may be constructed from any suitable flexible sheet material. However, flexible plastic materials are preferred, and especially plastics which are sufficiently transparent to allow the portion of the page covered by the bookmark to be seen and read. In instances where the bookmark is formed from a transparent flexible sheet material such as a plastic, it may be colorless or colored, or portions may be uncolored and portions colored to thereby provide attractive decorative areas and/or provide a message or advertisement thereon. This is an important feature of the present invention since transparent materials in combination with the design of the bookmark assure that the reader is disturbed to the minimum extent and yet provide the advantages of an automatic bookmark. Materials which are suitable for use in sheet form in manufacturing the bookmark include plastics such as linear polyethylene, polyamides (nylon), acetal polymer (Delrin), acrylic polymer (Lucite or Plexiglas), rigid vinyl chloride-acetate copolymer, cellulose acetate, polystyrene, polyester film (Mylar), and elastomeric polyurethene; and metals such as ferrous metal including ferrous metal alloys, Phosphor-bronze alloys, and beryllium-copper alloys. The above materials may be in the form of sheets and preferably approximately 0.005 to 0.007 inch thick, but may vary in thickness depending on the width of the flexing sections in the bookmark. For example, the thickness may vary in some instances from about A to /2 of the preferred thickness up to about 2 to 3 or more times as great as the preferred thickness.

The foregoing detailed discussion and the drawings are for purposes of illustration only, and are not intended as being limited to the spirit or scope of the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. A bookmark consisting of a single continuous piece of flexible sheet material, the piece of flexible sheet material including a first portion, the first portion having at least one second portion of sheet material extending therefrom, the second portion being folded upon the first portion thereby forming means for attaching the bookmark to the book, the first portion also having at least one elongated third portion of the sheet material extending therefrom, the third portion being folded toward the first portion and forming a page marking member, the first, second and third portions being arranged whereby the bookmark may be attached to a page of a book by means including the first and second portions with the third portion extending onto the page of the book to be marked and at least one of the first and second portions being corrugated in a direction generally longitudinal to the third portion to thereby increase the rigidity of at least one of said first and second portions.

2. The bookmark of claim 1 wherein the piece of flexible sheet material is formed of metal.

3. The bookmark of claim 1 wherein the piece of flexible sheet material is formed of plastic.

4. The bookmark of claim 1 wherein the piece of flexible sheet material is formed of a transparent plastic.

5. The bookmark of claim 1 wherein the third portion is joined to the first portion by a curvilinear portion.

6. The bookmark of claim 1 wherein the third portion tapers to a point as it extends from the first portion.

7. The bookmark of claim 1 wherein the third portion tapers to a point as it extends from the first portion and the point is turned upward to thereby allow a page of a book to be inserted thereunder.

8. The bookmark of claim 1 wherein at least the central portion of the third portion is spaced from the first portion whereby a spring-like action is attained.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 992,916 Shiver May 23, 1911 2,136,326 Spandorfer Nov. 8, 1938 2,614,305 Yeardley Oct. 21, 1952 2,717,572 Kingman Sept. 13, 1955 

1. A BOOKMARK CONSISTING OF A SINGLE CONTINUOUS PIECE OF FLEXIBLE SHEET MATERIAL, THE PIECE OF FLEXIBLE SHEET MATERIAL INCLUDING A FIRST PORTION, THE FIRST PORTION HAVING AT LEAST ONE SECOND PORTION OF SHEET MATERIAL EXTENDING THEREFROM, THE SECOND PORTION BEING FOLDED UPON THE FIRST PORTION THEREBY FORMING MEANS FOR ATTACHING THE BOODMARK TO THE BOOK, THE FIRST PORTION ALSO HAVING AT LEAST ONE ELONGATED THIRD PORTION OF THE SHEET MATERIAL EXTENDING THEREFROM, THE THIRD PORTION BEING FOLDED TOWARD THE FIRST PORTION AND FORMING A PAGE MARKING MEMBER, THE FIRST, SECOND AND THIRD PORTIONS BEING ARRANGED WHEREBY THE BOOKMARK MAY BE ATTACHED TO A PAGE OF A BOOK BY MEANS INCLUDING THE FIRST AND SECOND PORTIONS WITH THE THIRD PORTION EXTENDING ONTO THE PAGE OF THE BOOK TO BE MARKED AND AT LEAST ONE OF THE FIRST AND SECOND PORTIONS BEING CORRUGATED IN A DIRECTION GENERALLY LONGITUDINAL TO THE THIRD PORTION TO THEREBY INCREASE THE RIGIDITY OF AT LEAST ONE OF SAID FIRST AND SECOND PORTIONS. 